The subject matter herein relates generally to contacts for electrical connectors.
Electrical connectors include contacts for mating with mating contacts, such as of a mating electrical connector or mating circuit board. Conventional contacts include mating portions having spring beams that are spring biased against the mating contacts when mated thereto. The mating portions of conventional contacts utilize two bends or curved sections that create a controlled single point of contact with the mating contact. The first bend creates an offset from the beam, such as to drop the point of contact downward out of the plane of the contact and the second bend creates the controlled contact surface by bending the tip of the contact back upward. The second bend creates a lead-in tip to guide mating with the mating electrical component or mating circuit board, such as to reduce the risk of mechanical stubbing during mating. The bends shape the contact to maintain a relatively constant beam length and controlled force at the area of contact.
However, conventional contacts are not without disadvantages. The swooping shape defined by the bends at the area of contact is problematic at high speed data transmission. For example, the contact loses effectiveness in high speed data transmission at higher frequencies due to, for example, mismatched impedance from the electrical stub created in the gap or space between the contact and the mating contact. For example, the mating contact has a predetermined length designed for sufficient contact wipe during mating and the excess length of the mating contact under the beam of the contact is an area of mismatched impedance leading to decreased electrical performance.
A need remains for a contact for an electrical connector having improvised electrical performance for high speed data transmission.